Protection
by SuperStitchet
Summary: Short Story for BBRae Week 2015. Not all threats are on the outside. Also my first fic, R&R Please!


He knew what her routine would be after that day's fight. Of course, he had memorized her schedule for varying circumstances. With today's fight being the type that raised the question, "Was any of it even worth it?" and had left behind a thoroughly battered team in its wake, he knew exactly what she would do.

Raven would disappear in a black portal if she had enough juice left in her, or she would simply walk, to her room and stay for the remainder of the day. Around midnight she would silently come down to the kitchen and fix herself a cup of tea. Specifically, a cup of Chamomile tea with exactly 4 leafs of Lemon Balm. She wouldn't add her usually lemon and dash of ginger. Raven would move over to the couch and sit, gazing across the room to look through the star-speckled water. She would quietly sip, and when the cup was finished she would place it into the sink and disappear back into her safe abode.

Recently, Beastboy had begun waiting up on her. Waiting to offer his reassuring words and hugs. He would fix the tea the way that the event called far, and join her on the couch, simply wrapping and arm around her middle as she pondered. And when she called for it, he would fill her mind with hope and security from all the evils that threatened to consume her.

But not tonight. Not the night of a fight that had brutally claimed the lives of more than one civilian.

Raven had retired to her room as soon as the T-Car hit the Titan property. She didn't even have enough juice to fly back. Beastboy watched her go, conflicted within himself to stop her and shelter her from the horrors that they had all been through. To not wait till tonight. But he himself was exhausted, and was nursing a thoroughly bruised hip.

A quarter till midnight, Beastboy exited his room to help along with completing her routine. He hadn't even made it down his hallway before he stopped, almost falling at the suddenness of it. Backing up a step, he frowned at the slightly opened room. That just happened to be open. Still frowning, the green man called out quietly, and with hesitation. "Rae?" After a moments lapse of quietness, he peered his head into the forbidden room. There wasn't a bird in sight. "Maybe she went down early," He muttered to himself as he closed her door and picked up his pace down the hall.

Arriving in the commons, he's frown grew. The empathy was nowhere to be seen. Running a slightly frantic hand through his hair, he turned tail and raced onto the roof. Once again, Raven wasn't there. Beastboy racked his brain thinking of all her possible locations. And then went through with checking them. The pantry. Her room again. The bathroom. Her room again. All places turned up without her. One last place came to mind and before he even was there, he knew she would be. Beastboy scurried through the hallways and down the stair case, cutting off more than one corners too short. Down to the training room was his final destination.

Raven was there, pounding into a punching bag built for Cyborg. He halted at the doorframe, analyzing for the best possible course of actions. She hadn't even bothered to change out of her ripped leotard, he noticed. And then he saw her hands. Her bloodied knuckles that were bloodying everything up. That sent a knife straight to his chest. "Rae." He called out loud enough for her to hear over her repetitive pounding. "It's just another syllable. For the love of everything pure, just say it." Raven coughed out, lacking her usual sharpness. Without stopping her assault, she cackled harshly before choking on her spittle. "Everything pure. Aka. Everything I'm not." She barked out.

Beastboy was behind her in an instant, wrapping his arms around hers, pulling them taunt to her sides. He knew she would probably through him across the room, but he had to stop her assault on herself. "Rae, you know what happened today wasn't your fault." He murmured into her ear. She tried to pull herself away, but failed. He had grown stronger over the past few years. After a few more moments filled with Raven's screeches and jerks, she quieted down. "If I had only meditated enough, had more power, I could have saved them Gar." She let her head fall down with the weight of her revelation. Garfield pulled her tighter against his body as he spun her around to face him. "You know that there's nothing we could have done better. Or different." He reassured her.

Suddenly angry, Raven pounded against his chest and raised her voice. "It could have been you! It could have been anyone of this team! I could have not been able to protect them! I couldn't protect that little girl, so what makes protecting this team any different" She wailed out emphasizing each sentence with a hit. Beastboy took the blows and once she finished up and began sobbing, he pulled her down to the floor with him, and then into his lap. "Raven you did nothing wrong. We know what business we're in. And you can't put all of this on yourself. We lose together and we win together. We won today. Let that be enough to lull you to sleep." He drowned out her voices screaming with just his quiet words. They sat like this for a few minutes. "But at what cost Gar?" Raven croaked out even though she already knew the answer. Beastboy had no response, but to pull her tighter and press a kiss to her forehead. "Whatever it takes." He murmured to himself quietly. But Raven heard it. He knew she did. And they both knew he wasn't talking about the team, or civilians.

_I'll always protect you Rae. Even against yourself. _


End file.
